Vaporizing machine



May 1943- .1. c. SMERNIS 2,319,352

VAPORIZING MACHINE Filed Feb. 17, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Jm/z/zK 5046/7245 ATTORNEYS- l l 1 i INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jam 6 fine/"72416,

My 18, 1943 J. c. SMERNIS Fonz-zine mourns Filed Feb 17 1939 NW .mw Mm,QQ

INVENTOR. John G flmarfzw, M,

ATTORNEYS.

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 J. C. SMERNIS VAPORIZING MACHINE Flled Feb 1'7, 1939May 18, 1943 Patented May 18, 1943 VAPORIZING MACHINE John C. Smernis,Chicago, Ill., assignor to Miss OMist Products, Inc.,

tion of Illinois Chicago, 111., a corpora- Application February 17,1939, Serial No. 256,957 3 Claims. (Cl. 21-419) This invention relatesto improvements in vaporizing machines for generating desired quantitiesof water vapor at suitable temperatures for use in beauty and healthtreatments.

The machine of this invention is particularly adapted for the generationof water vapor and conveniently applying the same to the skin of humans,such as the face and scalp, whereby it has great utility in variousbeneficial beauty and therapeutic treatments.

It is an object of this invention to provide a vaporizer of the typereferred to, which will serve well in its intended use and which willdeliver the desired quantity of water vapor at the desired temperaturein a highly eflicient and effective manner.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a vaporizer of thetype described, which is simple in construction, inexpensive tomanufacture and maintain, and which can be movably supported from thefloor so as to deliver the water vapor in a highly convenient manner forapplication to the patients or clients being treated.

The novelty of this invention resides primarily in the improved andsimplified construction and.

arrangement of parts and adaptability for quick and inexpensive assemblyand maintenance, as well as the quick accessibility of the parts forinspection. and repair.

It is a further object of this invention to provide various novelfeatures to carry out the abovestated objects, as well as to providecertain additional advantages in use, as will more readily appear to oneskilled in the art as the following description proceeds.

Various other objects not specifically enumerated are intended for thisinvention, all of which will be apparent to those skilled in the artfrom an understanding of the following description of one specificexample of this invention which is given merely by way of illustration.

The following detailed description of the illustrated example may bemore readily understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure l is a side elevational View of a vaporizer constructed inaccordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal cross sectional view of thevaporizer shown in Figure 1, with the supporting stand omitted.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2 andlooking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure l is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 ofFigure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view showing alongitudinal cross section of the internal mechanism of the vaporizerand also showing parts of the vaporizer housing eparated to betterillustrate, as by means of the dotted lines, the manner of assemblingthe component parts thereof.

By referring to the drawings, it will be noted that the presentinvention comprises a body portion It mounted on a suitable stand orsupport I l. The stand comprises a plurality of supporting legs and feet12 and a vertical upright support l3 which is preferably hollow andadapted to adjustahly receive a supporting post I 4 which can besuitably adjusted to any desired vertical height by means of theadjustable screw l5. The upright support may include a spring (notshown) in the conventional way to aid in lifting the device whenadjusting the height thereof.

The upper end of the post M is provided with a horizontally extendingarm 16. the other end of which is provided with a pivot of conventionaldesign 17, which is not shown in detail. This pivot, however, serves topivotally support a second arm l8, which is pivotally connected at itsopposite end, as at l 9, to the supporting bracket and drain basin 2c.The supporting bracket and drain basin 20 is preferably constructed inthe manner illustrated in Figure 2, so as to provide a receptacle 2!having a drain opening closed by a plug 22. The bracket and drain basinis also provided with internal lugs having openings adapted to receiveholding screws 23 for securely mounting thereon the cylindrical bodyportion 24 of the vaporizer.

This body portion is preferably shaped as shown in the drawings, with anopen end 25 cut on an angle to serve as a delivery means for the watervapor in a convenient manner.

The opposite end of the cylindrical body portion terminates in avertical plane and is provided with a heading 25 and flange 2'! adaptedto receive and hold the dome-shaped end member 28. Centrally of thecylindrical body member is a partition 29 secured by welding or othersuitable means of fastening the same, whereby the vaporizer is dividedinto a housing compartment 38 for enclosing the vaporizing mechanism anda front open compartment 3! which serves as a cooling chamber andvapor-delivery The vapour-producing mechanism is best illustrated inFigure 5 and comprises a water supply and delivery means designatedgenerally 32, and a boiler designated generally 33. The water supplydevice comprises a tank 34 made of metal or other suitable material,adapted to contain the desired quantity of water, and is provided with afilling neck 35 which extends upwardly through the domed housing member28 with its upper edge tightly fitting the housing and convenientlypresenting the opening for refilling the supply tank. This opening maybe closed .by a suitable airtight closing .plug 36.

At the base of the supply tank is a downwardly extending water deliverytube 3! which extends a substantial distance into a constant-levelauxiliary reservoir 38. This reservoir preferably comprises a metallicmember permanently secured by an air-tight connection to the base of thewater supply tank 32, substantially in the manner illustrated in Figure5.

Adjacent the upper portion of the auxiliary reservoir is an air inlet 46to which is connected the upstanding air vent pipe ll which preferablyextends upwardly within the housing of the vaporizer to a point abovethe maximum water level in the supply tank. Secured to the auxiliaryreservoir at a location below the constant water level therein, is aconnecting pipe 52 which includes a valve member t3 having a controlstem and manual turning means 44, the latter of which extends downwardlythrough a slot I61 in the casing to a point where it is readilyaccessible for operation, as will be observed from an inspection of thedrawings.

At the opposite end of the connecting pipe 42 there is rigidly attacheda boiler 45 which is preferably of cylindrical or other suitableconstruction and which is equipped with a, truncated conical top 'ifi.The boiler is preferably provided with a recess in its base to provide aspace for intimate association with a heating element 551, which may beof any suitable construction but is preferably constructed to directlyapply the heat to the base of the boiler. In the form here illustrated,the heating element fits within the recess in the bottom of the boilerand is provided with a cylindrical opening through which projects theattaching bolt rigidly secured to the base of the boiler. This bolt isthreaded at its lower end and adapted to receive a heater-holding plate52, made of metal or other suitable material, against the base of theheater by means of a holding nut The upper portion of the boiler isprovided with one or more (in this illustration, two) vapor-deliverypipes which preferably extend upwardly and forwardly in the manner shownin Figure 2, and through openings 56 in the partition 29.

Although it is not necessary to the satisfactory operation of thisdevice, it is found preferable to equip the ends of the vapor-deliverypipes with nozzles 51 which direct the vapor downwardly in a manner thatwill be apparent from an inspection of the drawings.

One feature of this invention'which makes for simplicity of constructionand ease in assembly and maintenance is the fact that the water supplytank, auxiliary reservoir and boiler, including the heating element, areassembled as a unitary device by means of the connecting pipe 42 andvalve 53 which not only form the necessary water connection to supplywater to the boiler, but also provide the necessary mechanical strengthto unite and support these respective parts.

As a result, this entire mechanism is mounted in the device by means ofa single support at the base of the auxiliary reservoir. This supportcomprises a holding screw 6?) which is permanently secured to the baseof the auxiliary reservoir and extends through an opening in the bottomportion of the domed housing member 28 and is clamped by means of a nutEl, which tightly embraces the housing member and forces the sameagainst a shoulder, washer or other means 62 so as to securely mount andmaintain the entire assembly in fixed relation with respect to the domedhousing member 28. Of course, the upper end of the inlet opening 35, byvirtue of its contact with the domed member, maintains the verticalalignment of the water tank member and, accordingly, aids in themechanical support of the unit.

It will thus be seen that the boiler, which mechanically supports andcarries the vapor outlet pipes 55 as well as the heating element, issubstantially entirely supported by its pipe connection 42 and theauxiliary reservoir, whereby the mounting of the water tank andreservoir in the manner described serves as the mechanical support forthe entire assembly. The parts are preferably so disposed, however, thatthe base of the screw 5| extending from the bottom of the heater,together with its holding nut 53, may engage and rest upon the bottominner surface of the cylindrical portion of the body of the vaporizer,and to this extent some mechanical support is supplied by this contact,if necessary.

As shown in Figure 5, the domed portion 28 of the housing is providedwith an edge which is adapted to overlap the flange 21 of thecylindrical portion of the housing. These parts are preferably assembledin the manner illustrated in Figure 5, as represented by the dottedlines, and may be removed and separated so as to withdraw all of themechanism from the cylindrical portion of the housing by merelydetaching the domed portion of the housing and moving it axially awayfrom the cylindrical portion thereof. The domed and the cylindricalportions of the housing are preferably held in assembled relation bymeans of screws or other suitable securing means Hi, which may bescrewed through threaded aligned openings provided in any suitablenumber around the periphery of the overlapping portions thereof.

The water supply tank is preferably equipped with a water gauge 15,clearly illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5, which consists ofhorizontally disposed connecting pipes 11 and i8 and a glass tubularconnecting member it. This tubular member is preferably disposedexternally of the domed housing member and may be located in a groove9%, as shown in Figure 3, adapted to accommodate the same, so that forpurposes of protection and nicety of appearance it will not extendbeyond the outer contour of the body of the vaporizer.

Although the electric heating element may be of any suitable type nowavailable on the market and its exact construction is not a part of thisinvention, the form here illustrated comprises a disk-like member havinga metallic housing I05 in which is embedded a quantity of ceramic orother non-conducting plastic material ifii, which in turn has embeddedtherein a suitable electrical heating coil 32. This coil may be of usualconstruction for heaters of this kind, having its terminals provided asat N33 for connection to an electrical conductor I04 which may extendthrough the housing to any convenient point where it may pass through tothe outside, as illustrated in the drawings. As

- shown here, this outlet may be located at the rear of the machine andinclude a control switch I by which the current line I06, which isconnected to a suitable source of current, may be connected anddisconnected to the heating element.

The lower rear edge of the cylindrical body member is provided with aslot I07 which extends to the vertical edge thereof for accommodatingthe stem 44 of the control valve 43. By means of this slot, the entireunit may be moved into position during the assembly operation withoutinterference,

The bracket and drain basin 20 preferably communicates, by means of anopening III), with the cooling compartment 3| of the vaporizer, wherebyany condensation which collects on the Walls thereof may be drained intothe receptacle 2| of the bracket and periodically removed by withdrawingthe closing plug 22.

This device also includes a towel or coversupporting rack I I5 which maybe of wire or other suitable material, slidably held in brackets 6mounted on the inner surface of the cooling compartment whereby the rackcan be withdrawn to the dotted line position, as shown in Figure 3, soas to aid in supporting a towel or cover to be used during thevapor-applying treatment. The outward movement of the rack is arrestedby means of a screw or other suitable stop III.

As may be observed from Figure 3, this rack is preferably U-shaped andhas similar sliding supports on opposite sides of the device.

The device is further equipped with a holding sleeve I20 extendingthrough the top wall of the cooling compartment 3|, and which ispreferably disposed on a diagonal in substantially the manner shown,whereby it may receive and frictionally hold a breathing tube I2I. Thebreathing tube may be of paper or other suitable material, whereby afresh tube may be used for each treatment, and the tubes readilyinserted and removed as desired.

It will be understood that the auxiliary reservoir, with the dependingWater delivery tube 37, will serve as a constant-level water supplymeans for delivering a constant quantity of water to the boiler. It willbe noted that the water level in the auxiliary reservoir is exactly thesame as that required for efficient boiler operation, whereby throughthe instrumentality of the connecting pipe 42 and the control valve 43,the same level is maintained in the boiler so long as an adequate supplyof water is available.

The closing plug 36 at the upper end of the water supply tank isair-tight, whereby no air can enter the water tank to displace the watertaken therefrom except by passing under the lower lip of the dependingwater delivery pipe 31. This air is available from the air space in theauxiliary tank above the water level as supplied through the air vent4|, It will thus be seen that the water supply tank, to the extent ofits capacity, always maintains the desired water level in the boiler,whereby a relatively small amount of water is presented at any one timeto the heating element, with the result that a very efiicient andsatisfactory boiling action results.

A further feature resides in the fact that the outer chamber 3| of thebody of the vaporizer supplies an adequate space for the proper coolingof the vapor to prepare the same for application to the patient orclient being treated.

, prising a body member having a housing com main portion and aremovrizing mechanism comprising a boiler and means for supplying waterto said boiler.

2. A vaporizer of the character described, comprising a body memberhaving a housing compartment including a movable closing member, andvaporizing mechanism assembled as a maintaining substantially a constantlevel of water in said boiler.

3. A vaporizer of the character described, comprising a body memberhaving a housing com- JOHN C. SMERNIS.

